Joshua Zirkzee nets the winner for Manchester United on memorable debut

Manchester United’s newly arrived £36 million forward Joshua Zirkzee marked his arrival in the Premier League by bagging his first goal in United colours on his debut appearance. The Red Devils narrowly defeated Fulham with a single-goal margin at Old Trafford in the Premier League 2024-25 season opener on Friday.

Zirkzee started from the bench and came on in the 61st minute to replace Mason Mount, with just three minutes left on the clock of regulation time. The new attacker broke the deadlock sending a wave of jubilation across the stands of Old Trafford.

The 23-year-old initiated the build-up by playing the ball wide to Casemiro, who laid off to Alejandra Garncho — who eventually delivered a fine cross in the box, with Zirkzee meeting the end of the cross to elegantly nudge the ball in the back of the net to put his team ahead.

Joshua Zirkzee shares Ten Hag’s words before taking the pitch against Fulham

The Dutch international made an instant impact for the Premier League outfit, despite not being part of pre-season preparation on the USA tour. Instead, he reported directly at Carrington, thus making fans wait to see him in action in the League opener. Moreover, Zirkzee was also named on the team in the FA Community Shield 2024 clash against Manchester City, but remained as an unused bench player.

“To win here in my first home game and grab a goal, it couldn’t have been better” Joshua Zirkzee told Sky Sports while reflecting on his performance in the Post-match interview. The former Bologna striker also revealed boss Erik Ten Hag told him to “bring more energy and help the team as much as possible”.